Install Expert is a software deployment tool
especially created for packaging and deploying applications for mobile
platforms.

It was developed by BEIKS as an in-house solution
to the need of deploying the company's own Palm OS, Windows Mobile and
BlackBerry applications at optimal speed, cost and without the complexity and
footprint of the generic application installers like InstallShield® and WISE® .

Install Expert
was first released back in 1998 as Pilot Catapult. At the time, it was
the first and only specialized Palm OS application deployment tool and as such
was at some point shipped on the platform's unified development tool, the
Metrowerks CodeWarrior.

As the mobile
applications workspace evolved and new platforms appeared, Pilot Catapult
was enhanced with support for Windows Mobile and BlackBerry and eventually
became Install Expert.

The greatest
testimony for the product is that BEIKS is using it for deploying all its
products across all mobile platforms supported by the company.

How is it
better

1. Install Expert helps users install applications on their devices. If
you think this is minor think again.

2. Install Expert greatly helps decrease support calls.3. Install Expert packages have way smaller footprint than ones
created with generic installers like InstallShield or WISE. That results in
faster downloads and overall better customer experience.

4. Install Expert can get you up and running in 10 minutes without having
to learn a new scripting language

5.Install Expert is designed for mobile application deployment.

6. Install Expert is used by its
developers - us - for deploying hundreds of mobile applications across 3 mobile
platforms. We stand behind our product if only because we ourselves use it
heavily

For additional details please explore the other page sections.

Using command-line
builds

One of the least
advertised, but most useful Install Expert features is the ability to
make builds from the command line.

For the past few
years, we at BEIKS have been using this feature to build the
vast majority of dictionary packages for Palm, Windows Mobile
and BlackBerry
devices. Indeed, if for every product you need to make a trial
and a full build, then a branded build for various distributors,
then a build for every target platform, then eventually a build
for every target language...phew, it's a lot!
Did we mention the version changes?

If you have
already been through the hell of releasing a second build in
similar conditions you must already be looking for means to
automate the process. And rightfully so!

While
Install Expert does not currently include sample projects using
automation, it is itself fully capable of becoming part of the
automation chain - a feature, as mentioned earlier, which is
heavily used and tested within BEIKS.

Java
conduits

Install Expert does not currently support Java based conduits
and we are not sure we want to support them in near future.

There are various
pros and cons of using any tool, of course, and we do not tell
you to cross Java for conduits (although that is what we have
chosen to do). However, Install Expert is designed and targeted
towards compact and optimized solutions, the Zen of the Palm
computing platform. If you are to redistribute the whole JVM for
a conduit that can be implemented in under 100 kB executable,
then you probably don't care about the size of your installation
anyway and might as well use the heavy artillery of installers,
like Install Shield or Wise.

We would be sorry
to lose a customer, but we also believe that tools should
be used according to their design capabilities. As of version
4, Install Expert definitely does not provide good and meaningful
ways to install Java-based applications.

Read the CDK!

Although
InstallExpert
is meant to save you time and efforts, it is not meant to
replace the knowledge of how conduits fit in a Palm OS based
solutions.

Reading and
understanding the Conduit Development Kit is crucial to the
success of your solution. Everything, from selecting unique
database creator, to choosing the type of conduit (DLL or EXE,
COM or simple API) to understanding the need and proper usage of
the redistributable COM suite DLLs - all this plays the central
role in implementing the best possible application that will
sell well. InstallExpert should be just another tool in your arsenal,
but the ability to use it is your power and responsibility.